Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'm going to speak this morning
on the death of Abraham. And in speaking on the death
of Abraham, I will be speaking on the death of every believer. Now the time for Abraham to die
had come. He had been walking with God
for over a hundred years. He was called out in his seventies,
and he had been walking with God for over a hundred years,
and the time of his death had come. The Lord had appointed
that day for him, and our day has been appointed by the Lord
as well. We read in Acts 17, verse 26,
and he hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell
on all the face of the earth, and hath determined before. the times appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation. The day of my birth was determined
by God, and the day of my death has already been determined by
God. And it was for Abraham as well,
his time to die had come. And we read beginning in Genesis
chapter 25, verse 7, And these are the days of the years of
Abraham's life, which he lived. 103 score and 15 years. 175 years. Then Abraham gave
up the ghost. He took his last breath and died. You've seen a corpse without
life in it. That's what you saw now when
you looked upon Abraham. He died, but look at the way
his death is described. He died in a good old age. an old man, and full." Now, in
my King James, it says, full of years, but the of years is
in italics. That means the translators placed
that there, and really, those words were not in the original.
Literally, he died full. He died satisfied. He died satiated. He was well pleased when he died. He wasn't looking for anything
that would make him not fear death. He already had it. He
died satisfied and was gathered to his people. He went to heaven
with all of those who had gone to heaven before Him, His people. Noah was there, Abel was there,
he went to heaven with his people. Who are his people? The same
people that the Lord spoke of in Matthew 121 when he said,
thou shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins. Now, Abraham is the most significant
man as far as men go. I know the Lord Jesus Christ
is infinitely more significant than Abraham. He's the God-man,
but as far as men go, Abraham is the most significant figure
in the scriptures. Now, Abraham was just like you
and I, a sinful man, a weak man, A man dependent upon the grace
of God. And many of his character flaws
are exposed in the scripture. There are many things said of
Abraham that lets us know Abraham was a sinner, saved by the grace
of God. Don't make an idol out of Abraham,
he would have hated that. He was just like you and I, a
sinful, weak man. But he was a man specially loved
by God. God said, I called him alone. There was a time perhaps, maybe
that's the only time it's ever been that way. Maybe there were
believers on the earth, but it appears that he was, there were
no believers at this time. And God said, I called him alone. And the scripture says that he
was called the friend of God. Oh, what a commendation. Believers are called the children
of Abraham. It was said to Abraham, in thee
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. What a type
of Christ he is. In Christ is where all of God's
favor is. In thee shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. He is the covenant head of a
people. Christ is the covenant head of a people. Heaven is called Abraham's bosom
by the Lord himself. He is the great example of faith. The first time we read of believing
God is when it says Abraham believed God. He believed what God said,
and it was counted to him for righteousness. And he was 175
years old. an old man, and he'd been walking
with the Lord for 100 years. And how varied was his journey,
the ups and the downs, the trials and the tribulations of Abraham. But now they have come to an
end. And the scripture says in verse
8 of Genesis 25 that he died in a good old age. That can't
be said of everyone. Old age can be so difficult.
Old age can be so wretched. Old age can be so lonely. People
who die alone without anyone to help them, perhaps in poverty,
perhaps with great pain in their body, perhaps for a long time.
But the scripture says Abraham died in a good old age. I pray that I'm allowed to do
the same, and I know you pray that as well, a good old age. And then it says he was an old
man, and that carries with it the idea of respect and dignity. He was a well-loved and well-respected
man. You know, we read where Ishmael,
as well as Isaac, was involved in his burial. And you can see
where Ishmael could have issues. I mean, look at the way Sarah
mistreated him. Cast out the bondwoman and her son. And you
can see where he might not even want to participate in this because
Abraham did cast him out. But Abraham must have been such
a kind man And he was, if you read of the way he conducted
himself during the burial of Sarah, how kind and humble he
was before the men he bought the cave from to bury Sarah in. You can read about that in Genesis
chapter 23. They said, you're a mighty prince among us. Whatever
you want of ours, take it. That's what kind of respect they
had for Abraham. I take it that he was a very
kind man. So he died in a good way. old age, an old man, a man that
was respected, and full. I know the King James Version
says full of years, but the words of years are not there. He died
full. He died satisfied. Question. Does that mean he looked
back on his life without regrets? Would you look back on your life
without regrets? There are so many things that
I regret. There are so many things of which
I'm ashamed. There are so many things of which
I wish they had never taken place. And I wish I didn't have anything
to do with those things. And I guarantee you, Abraham
felt the same way. My, he had his wife sold into
a harem twice. You reckon he regretted that?
Well, sure he did. I'm so impressed with Sarah that
she could forgive him after that. He did that early when the Lord
called him and later on in life. You can read about it in Genesis
12 and Genesis 20. And he regretted that. He regretted so many sinful,
unbelieving attitudes that he had or sinful things that he
did. I guarantee you he had many regrets. So when it says he died
satisfied, that doesn't mean he died satisfied with his conduct. I have no regrets. I've heard
people talk like that. And I thought, you're lying.
You're just not telling the truth. If you don't have any regrets
in your past, you've never lived. This is not speaking of not having
regrets, but here's what he's speaking of, satisfied. It is
seen in what he said to his son, Isaac, when they were going up
the Mount, Moriah. And Isaac said, Father, here's
the fire, here's the wood, where's the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abraham answered my son, God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. There's nothing you and I can
provide that God would accept. God is the one who does the providing. And God provides for himself.
He makes a way for himself to be just and justify the ungodly. For God to do something for me,
he first had to do something for himself. And God provides
himself as the Lamb. And I am satisfied with that
gospel. Listen to these words of our
Lord. It is finished. I'm so satisfied with that. There's
nothing for me to do. Listen to this. This is said
to every believer. You are complete. You are full. Nothing can be added to you.
You can't become any more saved than you are. You are complete
in Him. That's said to everybody that
Jesus Christ died for. That's said to everybody that
Jesus Christ lived for. That's said to everybody that
trusts Him only as their salvation. You are complete. Now you might
not feel complete, but you are complete. You lack nothing. Do you know I'm satisfied with
that? So satisfied. Listen to this scripture from
1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. Paul says, but of him are you
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. That means everything You need
to be accepted by God. You have. I am so satisfied with
that. Hebrews 10.14 says, by one offering,
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. That means
by his blood, I was perfected before God. Forever, there's
nothing I need to do. I'm not looking for anything
else. I'm not hoping for anything else. I am satisfied. Now that is how Abraham died. He died completely satisfied. Now, listen to these words. God
is completely satisfied with his son and those in him. Christ is completely satisfied
with what he did. He's not looking to do anything
else, that's why He sat down. He's satisfied. God the Holy
Spirit is completely satisfied with who Christ is and what He
did. He brings Him to every believer. And every believer is satisfied
with what Christ did. I'm not looking anywhere else.
Somebody says, there's got to be more. You haven't seen Him
then, because if you've seen who He is and what He did, you're
satisfied to be saved by Him alone. Now, are you satisfied
with Christ? Are you satisfied to be saved
simply by what He did without your works ever entering in? Have you ever learned to look
to Christ alone? Now, I want to read a passage
of Scripture from 2 Timothy, chapter 4, where Paul tells us
he was ready to die. What made him ready to die? Abraham
died full. Paul died full. Let's look at what Paul said
in verse six. He said, for I am now, 2 Timothy chapter four,
verse six. This is right before Paul's death.
For I am now ready to be offered. I'm ready to be poured out like
a drink offering. I'm ready to die. And the time
of my departure is at hand. Now notice Paul calls death a
departure. He's going to an infinitely better
place. And death is the departure time. And look what he says with regard
to being ready to be offered. He says, I have fought a good
fight, I finished my course. I've kept the faith. Now let's
think about what he said. I fought a good fight. Now does
that mean he believed his life to be such that it was good,
a good fight? I've fought sufficiently against
sin and against unbelief and I fought the devil and I fought
unbelief and I've, oh, I fought a good fight. Is that what he
means? No. I know I would not look at my
life and look back on it and say, well, I fought a good fight.
I've done a really good job. Heaven's waiting for me because
of how well I fought. No, here's what he meant when
he said, I fought a good fight. He says, I've finished my course. Now, when you fight a good fight,
you persevere all the way to the end. That good fight is seen
in finishing his course. What course? Here's the third
thing he said, I've kept the faith. Now, I fought a good fight
this way. I've never left looking to Christ
only. I've never graduated past that.
Paul said in Galatians 6.14, God forbid, that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I never leave
that. The only place I have to glory
is in Christ Himself. That's what faith is. Faith is
looking to Christ alone. Faith and negates faith. Faith
is looking to Christ alone as all that God requires. And you prove you look to Christ
alone, when you're satisfied with that, you're not looking
for anything else. You're not looking for a plan B. You're
not looking for works that will prove to you that you're saved.
You look to Christ alone, and to move a hair's breadth from
that is to leave the gospel. Paul said, I have fought a good
fight. I finished my course. I have
kept the faith. Now look what he says next. Verse
eight, henceforth. Now this is why I'm ready to
die. I've kept the faith. I've continued believing all
the way to the end. Henceforth, there is laid up
for me. crown of righteousness. Now I've heard preachers preach
on believers and their crowns. They talk about the crown of
righteousness and the soul winner's crown. They got five crowns.
And I suppose, I guess they think people have really big heads
in heaven and they'll be able to wear all kinds of different
crowns, but that's foolishness. That's not what the scripture
means by this. This is a crown of righteousness. and that righteousness is the
righteousness of Jesus Christ. His righteousness is the only
righteousness that God will accept. I love that parable of the man
in the wedding feast, who didn't have on the wedding garment of
God's providing. What that means is he didn't
have on the righteousness of Christ. He had his own righteousness,
and he was cast out. There's only one righteousness
God will accept. That is the righteousness of
His Son. And look what it says. I think
this is so amazing. Henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day." Now, it doesn't say, the
Lord, the merciful, forgiving one. It says, the Lord, the righteous
judge shall give me that crown of righteousness. And he's going
to do it on account of his righteousness. Now, how can I understand that? Well, in Luke chapter 18, That
man who was beating on his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me,
the sinner. You know what Christ said with
regard to that man? He said, I tell you, that man went down
to his house justified. It is God that justifies. Not it is God that forgives,
though he does. Not it is God that shows mercy,
though he does. It's God that justifies. You see, every believer has been
justified by what Christ did. He took my sin. He put it away. He made it not to be. He takes
his righteousness, gives it to me. It becomes my personal righteousness. And I stand before God as one
having never sinned. Now that's what this crown of
righteousness is. It's a crown of sinlessness.
Which the Lord, the righteous judge, he'll give me this crown
because I deserve it, not in myself. I know that in myself
I'm nothing but sin, but Christ made me worthy. He made me justified. I stand before God without guilt. Now look what he says next. Henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the right,
which, The Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that
day, and not to me only, but unto all that also love his appearing. Now let me say this, I love his
appearing. That's not just talking about
His appearing when He comes back. I love His appearing as my surety
before time began when He took full responsibility for my salvation.
I love His appearing before the law when He kept the law for
me. I love His appearing on the cross when He put away my sin.
I love His appearing as He walked out of that tomb, me being justified
by what He did. I love his appearing even now
in heaven as he intercedes for me. And oh, how I'll love his
appearing when he returns, when he shall come with trumpet sound.
Oh, may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness
alone, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid
rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. I'm one of those who love His
appearing, and that crown of righteousness will be given to
me, to every believer without exception. Now, the death of the believer is
different than the death of the unbeliever. Abraham dies satisfied with Christ,
not looking for anything else. Now, every believer can die not
looking for anything else, because I have all. I don't want anything
else. I don't need anything else. In
Christ, I have all. And the death of the believer
is described in these three ways in the scripture. Blessed are
the dead that die in the Lord. Now, if I die in the Lord, you
know what that means? I'm blessed of God. Precious. in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints." Anytime a believer dies, it's precious
in the Lord's sight. And Paul said, to live is Christ
and to die is gain. Now, what would make someone
fear death? The only reason you would fear death is because of
sin. But here is the believer's hope. My sin has been put away. I don't have to worry about sin.
He was manifested to take away our sins. In him is no sin. Whoso abideth in him sinneth
not. As I'm in Christ, I'm brought
into heaven as one who sinneth not." You say, how could that
be? Because He took away my sins and He made them not to be. They've
been expunged from the universe. They are not. I stand before
God without guilt. Therefore, I have nothing to
fear." You know, the character of death for a believer is different.
It's called sleep. Remember when the Lord said with
regard to Lazarus, our friend Lazarus sleepeth? That's the
character of death for a believer. And the moment we die, we'll
be with Christ. The Lord said today, Thou shalt
be with me in paradise, not tomorrow, not at the final resurrection,
today. Thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now, how I can be separated from
my body and yet be in Christ's presence, I don't know, but I
am. And on the resurrection day, we'll be given glorified bodies
made like unto His glorious bodies. bodies without sin, bodies without
sorrow. I'll still be me. I'll still
maintain my personality, but I will no longer be a sinner.
You know, when John was writing under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, he said, it doth not yet appear what we shall
be. We cannot even fathom of what it's going to be like to
be without sin, but we know. When He shall appear, we'll be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. At that time, my hope
will be changed to experience. My faith will be changed to sight. My love will be now without sin. When I stand before Thy throne
dressed in beauty not my own, When I see thee as thou art,
love thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully know,
not till then how much I owe." Abraham took his last breath. after being so privileged of
God, and then he entered into life to behold the glory of Jesus
Christ for eternity. And that is the heritage of every
believer. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church, write,
or look at our website, you can find the message there. And if
you can't and just want it sent, we'll send it to you. To receive
a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your request
to todd.nyvern at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.